Retractable gauge control assembly for a rolling mill

ABSTRACT

The disclosure of this invention relates to a rolling mill of the hydraulic roll gap control type. The disclosed control includes a bar spring-load cell assembly that is adjustable to position the spring in various rolling positions by a power jack. This entire assembly is received in the window of the mill and by a piston cylinder assembly is retracted therefrom onto a platform when maintenance is to be performed on the assembly. Rolling mills provided with an hydraulic roll gap control system including a pair of piston cylinder assemblies for adjusting the rolls thereof are sometimes provided with a control system that includes a position indicator, such as, a mechanical spring-load cell arrangement for each cylinder assembly. The cells measure the deflections of the spring as a function of a change in the rolling load. The spring and load cell arrangements are mounted on mechanical jacks employed to adjust the vertical position of the spring assemblies to compensate for different size rolls being employed in the mill. In prior mill construction, in order to perform maintenance on any of the elements of the position indicator of the control systems, it was necessary for the workmen to remove them piecemeal from the window of the mill. Such an operation was very time-consuming and expensive.

[111 3,713,314 1 Jan. 30, 1973 [54] RETRACTABLE GAUGE CONTROL ASSEMBLY FOR A ROLLING MILL [751 Inventor: Ja'mes Richard Adair, Pittsburgh,

[73] Assignee: Wean United, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa.

[22] Filed: Sept. 14, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 180,296

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Primary Examiner-Milton S. Mehr AttorneyHenry C. Westin' [57] ABSTRACT The disclosure of this invention relates to a rolling mill of the hydraulic roll gap control type. The disclosed control includes a bar springload cell assembly that is adjustable to position the spring in various rolling positions by a power jack. This entire assembly is received in the window of the mill and by a piston cylinder assembly is retracted therefrom onto a platform when maintenance is to be performed on the assembly.

Rolling mills provided with an hydraulic roll gap control system including a pair of piston cylinder assemblies for adjusting the rolls thereof are sometimes provided with a control system that includes a position indicator, such as, a mechanical spring-load cell ar rangement for each cylinder assembly. The cells measure the deflections of the spring as a function of a change in the rolling load. The spring and load cell arrangements are mounted on mechanical jacks employed to adjust the vertical position of the spring assemblies to compensate for different size rolls being employed in the mill. In prior mill construction, in order to perform maintenance on any of the elements of the position indicator of the control systems, it was necessary for the workmen to remove them piecemeal from the window of the mill. Such an operation was very time-consuming and expensive.

5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures RETRACTABLE GAUGE CONTROL ASSEMBL FOR A ROLLING MILL It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide means for quickly moving the gauge control elements from a position within the window of the mill to a position remove therefrom for ease of maintenance.

It is a further object of the present invention to construct the bar spring load cell and jack of the gauge control system as an integral unit mountable on a guide member and power means for moving the member from a position within the window of the mill to a position on a platform outside of the window.

These objects, as well as other features and advantages of the present invention, will be better appreciated when the following description is read along with the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the lower portion of a rolling mill illustrating a portion of the lower roll assembly, one of the force applicator cylinders, and its mechanical gauge control components,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on lines 2 2 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken on lines 3 3 of FIG. 2.

In referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated the lower portion of one of the housings ll of a 4-high rolling mill, which portion also illustrates the window 12 of the housing into which there is received the roll assemblies of the mill, only the lower backup roll assembly being shown which comprises a lower backup roll 13 and its right-hand bearing-chock assembly 14. The other components of the mill have not been illustrated since they are well known in the art. These include, of course, the standard mechanical screwdown located at the top of the mill which will be employed to initially set the roll gap between the work rolls thereof.

Both the left and right bearing-chocks of the lower backup roll 13 are received in and carried by a sled in which in FIG. 1 the chock 14 is shown separated from the supporting surface of the sled by a series of filler plates 16, the sled 15 being employed to remove the backup rolls, which would include the top backup roll, from the mill for the purpose of roll changing. Immediately below the portion 17 of the roll changing sled 15 there is provided a force applicator piston cylinder assembly 18, the cylinder of which is movable and engages the portion 17 of the sled, the cylinder being indicated by the reference number 19 in FIG. 1 where it engages the member 17 of the sled. Since the cylinder 19 is the movable element of the piston cylinder assembly 18, as can be seen in FIG. 2, the piston 22 thereof is stationarily mounted on a base member 23. The base member 23 is actually arranged at the bottom of the window 12 of the housing 11. It will be appreciated that a force applicator cylinder is provided for the other bearing chock assembly of the roll 13. These cylinders are employed to adjust the gap of the mill during rolling for which purpose there is provided an hydraulic control system, which mechanical portion thereof will now be explained.

'The mechanical portion of the control system, as best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, is comprised of an integral unit 24 that extends between the cylinder 19 and the base member 23. Actually, each side of the cylinder 19, which is'symmetrical about its vertical center, is provided with a projecting portion 25, the outer underside surface of which is provided with a wear plate 26. In engagement with the wear member 26 is a rocker 27 secured to support member 28 which is connected to and forms part of a load cell 29. The lower portion of the load cell is provided with another rocker 32 which engages midway between its ends a bar spring 33, the bar spring, as best shown in FIG. 3, having at its ends and underneath its lower surface rockers 34 which engage wear plates 35 carried by a cross support member 36. The cell and bar spring are enclosed by a cartridge 38 so as to keep out contaminants. The cross member 36 at its center is supported by a protruding shaft 42 of a mechanical jack 42a.

The jack comprises an internally threaded sleeve 43, which is shown only in FIG. 2 and which is rotatably carried by bearings 44 so that the sleeve 43 is allowed to rotate but is held against axial movement. At the outer periphery of the sleeve 43 there is secured a mitre gear 45. The internal teeth of the sleeve 43 mesh with external teeth formed on an inner sleeve 46. This sleeve is not held against rotation, so it is allowed to move vertically as one views FIG. 2. The sleeve46 is provided with a vertical cylinder opening 47 for receiving a piston 48, the upper portion of which has already been defined by the reference number 42. As shown in FIG. 2, the sleeve 43 is enclosed in an outer case 51, the base of which is received in guideways 52 which are secured to the base member 23. The upper portion of the jack is provided with a cartridge 53 to prevent contaminants from finding their way into the interior of the jack assembly.

In still referring to FIG. 2, the cylinder 47 is provided with pressurized fluid through a line 54 having a connection 58. While not shown specifically in the drawings, it should be noted that a cooperative mitre gear arranged at right angles to the gear 45 is provided so as to drive the sleeve 43. This latter mitre gear is connected by a coupling 55 shown in FIG. 1 to a drive unit 56. Upon operating the drive unit 56, the mitre gears, including the gear 45, will cause rotation of the sleeve 43 and, hence, vertical movement of the sleeve 46 and the piston 48 so as to adjust the bar spring 33 and the cell 29 with respect to the cylinder 19 of the piston cylinder assembly 18. This is performed to compensate for the fact that the cylinder 19 must be moved vertically as the diameter of the rolls change, say, for example, when the rolls are redressed in order to keep the pass line of the mill at a fixed elevation. Movement of the cylinder 19 to position the rolls in the desired pass line requires repositioning of the gauge control assembly and particularly the bar spring 33 so that the bar spring is maintained in its proper working position.

Returning now again to FIG. 1, the entire mechanical gauge control component, by virtue of the guides52, is adapted to be removed as a unit from the window 12 of the mill. For this purpose there is provided a platform 57 projecting away from the mill and having a supporting surface that is in line with a supporting surface of the base member 23. Once the jack 42a has been disconnected at the coupling 55 and the hydraulic line 54 disconnected by the connector 58, the entire unit can be retracted onto the platform by a piston cylinder assembly 61. Thus, there is provided a quick, inexpensive mechanism for removing the entire assembly, consisting of the load cell, bar spring, and jack, from the windows of the mill. Of course, before this can be done, the backup roll must be lifted to provide the necessary clearance for movement of the gauge control unit. In concluding the description of the illustration of the present invention, it will be noted that in FIG. 1, in addition to the cartridges 38 and 53, a shieldv 62 is provided for shielding the drive unit 56 and the cylinder 61 from contaminants.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the principle and operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I consider to represent the best embodiment thereof.

I claim: I

1. In a rolling mill including a housing,

a window in said housing,

a roll mounted in said housing window,

means remote from said roll comprising a mechanical means for detecting movement of said roll relative to a fixed reference point associated with the rolling mill,

a movement sensitive means arranged to be engaged by said mechanical means,

means for moving said movement sensitive means,

a support member for said remote means,

a casement surrounding said remote means,'and

a means on said support member for permitting the remote means tobe retracted from an operative position in said window to an inoperative position removed from said window.

2. In a rolling mill including a housing,

a window in said housing,

a pair of rolls mounted in saidhousing window,

an assembly remote from said rolls comprising a mechanical means for detecting movement of one of said ro'llsrelative to a fixed reference point associated with the rolling mill, a load sensitive means arranged to be engaged by said mechanical means, means for moving said load sensitive means,

a support member for said assembly,

a casement surrounding said assembly, and

means on said support'member for permitting the assembly to be retracted from an operative position in said window to an inoperative position removed from said window. 3. In a rolling mill according to claim 2 wherein said mill includes a force applicator means for adjusting said rolland wherein said mechanical means includes a bar spring arranged to be deflected by a change in the rolling load of said mill,

said load sensitive means comprising a load cell arranged between said force applicator means and said bars ring said load cell and said bar spring being movable as a unit,

said means for moving said load sensitive means comprising an externally external threaded sleeve and an internally threaded sleeve, said sleeves being arranged in meshing relationship,

means for holding said internally threaded sleeve against axial movement, and

means for driving said internally threaded sleeve so as to move said spring and cell as a unit vertically.

4. In a rolling mill according to claim 3 wherein said internally threaded sleeve is provided with an opening,

a piston cylinder assembly mounted in said opening having its piston arranged to carry said bar spring and cell.

5. In a rolling mill according to claim 2 wherein said means for permitting the assembly to be retracted comprises a guide member mounted in said-window and supported by said housing, said support member having guiding surfaces formed thereon and received in said guiding member,

a piston cylinder assembly connected to said support member, and

a shelf carried by said housing having a support surface arranged to form a continuation ofsaid guide member 

1. In a rolling mill including a housing, a window in said housing, a roll mounted in said housing window, means remote from said roll comprising a mechanical means for detecting movement of said roll relative to a fixed reference point associated with the rolling mill, a movement sensitive means arranged to be engaged by said mechanical means, means for moving said movement sensitive means, a support member for said remote means, a casement surrounding said remote means, and a means on said support member for permitting the remote means to be retracted from an operative position in said window to an inoperative position removed from said window.
 1. In a rolling mill including a housing, a window in said housing, a roll mounted in said housing window, means remote from said roll comprising a mechanical means for detecting movement of said roll relative to a fixed reference point associated with the rolling mill, a movement sensitive means arranged to be engaged by said mechanical means, means for moving said movement sensitive means, a support member for said remote means, a casement surrounding said remote means, and a means on said support member for permitting the remote means to be retracted from an operative position in said window to an inoperative position removed from said window.
 2. In a rolling mill including a housing, a window in said housing, a pair of rolls mounted in said housing window, an assembly remote from said rolls comprising a mechanical means for detecting movement of one of said rolls relative to a fixed reference point associated with the rolling mill, a load sensitive means arranged to be engaged by said mechanical means, means for moving said load sensitive means, a support member for said assembly, a casement surrounding said assembly, and means on said support member for permitting the assembly to be retracted from an operative position in said window to an inoperative position removed from said window.
 3. In a rolling mill according to claim 2 wherein said mill includes a force applicator means for adjusting said roll and wherein said mechanical means includes a bar spring arranged to be deflected by a change in the rolling load of said mill, said load sensitive means comprising a load cell arranged between said force applicator means and said bar spring, said load cell and said bar spring being movable as a unit, said means for moving said load sensitive means comprising an externally external threaded sleeve and an internally threaded sleeve, said sleeves being arranged in meshing relationship, means for holding said internally threaded sleeve against axial movement, and means for driving said internally threaded sleeve so as to move said spring and cell as a unit vertically.
 4. In a rolling mill according to claim 3 wherein said internally threaded sleeve is provided with an opening, a piston cylinder assembly mounted in said opening having its piston arranged to carry said bar spring and cell. 